The BBC just put up a report indicating that Robben will soon sign with the Spanish giants:
Chelsea winger Arjen Robben has agreed personal terms over a move to Real Madrid, reports BBC Radio Five Live.
The clubs are yet to agree a fee, which is understood to be about £15m, but Robben, 23, is due to fly to the Spanish capital on Friday.
It seems that the hour of his imminent departure is upon us. I hate to see him go, and leave Chelsea never having fully reached his stride. Robben walks away from the elusive fifth-gear he was never able to reach. Among moments of sparkly, eye-catching brilliance, he never seemed to perform consistently enough to make a definite impact on the season.
Which is a shame. He has so much potential. With all that talent and ability (plus the pace and agility), what were the conditions that he required? Perhaps a regular starting-job was his achilles heel? Or was it actually his achilles heel(?) and various other niggling injuries that kept him out?
Being injury prone is a brutally devestating quality–a plague preying on many of football’s brightest stars. One cannot necessarily blame Robben for his skittish attendance.
But if a regular spot in the squad is what he requires, Madrid is, in my opinion, simply not the best option.
Interestingly enough, envisioning Chelsea playing without Robben isn’t hard. In fact, it’s far too easy. He is injured so consistently that I don’t even know if we will miss him. His performances are so inconsistent. As a spectator I can’t help but hope I get the chance to watch him. But in terms of his overall contribution to the team, what was really there? Nevermind the fact that he has been on a downhill slop since the original 04-05 season, and the statistics betray his diminishing returns. Goals, shots, and assists are ALL down. The only consistent number is games started.
This is not entirely Robben’s fault. He is a player with all the makings of a top wide-man, playing in a side as narrow as they come. Something about Mourinho’s tactics recently have inhibited the attacking qualities of our players. One of the many reasons I don’t want to see him go is that I believe Chelsea will be focusing on width this season. I believe our football will be better to watch this year than it has in the past five years if this is the case.
Fortunately, the BBC report I linked to above also records this little gem for us Blues fans:
It is also believed Feyenoord’s 20-year-old left winger Royston Drenthe has been lined up to replace Dutch international Robben.
This is the player we’re about to lose:
And here’s the Dutch kid we’ve been linked with:
Let’s hope his Ronaldinho-esque braids are an indicative of his footballing skills!
Tags: Robben, Chelsea, Real Madrid, Madrid, Drenthe, Football, Footy
